Jun 252013
Artisan Vegan Cheese
Gourmet restaurateur and vegan food expert Miyoko Schinner shares her secrets for making homemade nondairy cheeses that retain all the complexity and sharpness of their dairy counterparts while incorporating nutritious nuts and plant-based milks. Miyoko shows how to tease artisan flavors out of unique combinations of ingredients, such as rejuvelac and nondairy yogurt, with minimal effort. The process of culturing and aging the ingredients produces delectable vegan cheeses with a range of consist
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Price: $ 10.50
Great uncheese book,
This book is wonderful, but be prepared to have carrageenan powder, xanthan gum (not guar gum), tapioca flour, and agar powder on hand. These recipes are time consuming, but delicious and you may not be able to start these right away unless you have most of these products. In addition, you may wish to make homemade rejuvelac and yogurt ahead of time.
Aside from this, the recipes are delicious and we have thoroughly enjoyed the ones we have tried. The sharp cheddar is very good and that is the one we started with. It takes more than the 3 to 5 minutes (at least it did for me) to cook til completion, but once it comes together, it is worth the effort. I’m determined to fix the mozzarella tonight for pizza. I’m sure it will be equally as good. If not, I’ll be back to add to this review. It’s a good book and a lot of work went into the creation of these wonderful recipes. Oh BTW, there are different kinds of carrageenan and you may wish to visit some of the resources that the author has listed in the back of the book. Amazon does not tell you the difference between the different varieties.
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|Fantastic!,
I love to cook, and I have been a vegan for decades. This book is, hands down, the greatest surprise that I’ve had in the kitchen for a very long time. Wow! Where do I start? I made the rejuvelac, which is a necessary ingredient for many of the recipes, the day that I received the book. (I started it that day.) Super easy. I also made the yogurt immediately thereafter. Again, super easy. Very good results. As for the cheeses, I’ve made fresh mozzarella, sharp cheddar, basic cashew cheese, chevre, and marscapone so far. These are all very true to taste (yes, I remember the taste of dairy cheese), very easy, and really just in a league of their own. I should mention that I never buy “supermarket vegan cheese,” as I do not care for the taste of any of the brands at all. The cheese made from the recipes in this book just knocked my socks off. My husband’s too. Goodness! The book is simply fantastic. I can’t wait for her next book.
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|Wanted to like this but not sure about carrageenan…,
Let me begin by saying that I LOVE the concept of this book. I am tired of typical vegan cheese recipes out there and these are by no means typical, nor do they yield typical results. I tried 3 of the recipes and was happy with them, despite a few flaws. I am most concerned about the use of carrageenan in some of these recipes. I am no health expert but everything I am reading advises against consuming any products (like non-dairy milks) that use it as a thickener. If that is the case, why would I want to use it at home in my own foods?
I started by making the Rejuvelac, which is easy as pie to make (I still have plenty left in my fridge). From there I used it to make the Fresh Mozzarella, which I prepared step by step from the book, using agar flakes since I could not get a hold of powder. Well, while the taste is almost identical to real mozzarella, my cheese never became goey or sliceable like it was supposed to. I am assuming this happened because I used the flakes instead of the powder and if that was the case, why recommend that either one can be used in the recipes? I boiled the agar per the instructions but it failed to create a slice-able cheese for me.
My second attempt was the meltable mozzarella. These balls formed just fine but I can’t say that I was a fan of the taste. I also expected my pizza to look like that in the pictures of the book but the cheese didn’t look anything like it. It was okay but I don’t think I would make it again. I have a feeling though, that the taste will change according to the yogurt that is used. I used a sprouted soy yogurt, not a homemade one. Perhaps I could try again with a different brand of yogurt? I’d love to hear what others have to say.
Lastly, I made the air dried Cheddar Cheese. Again, I followed the steps but missed one- instead of allowing it to cool to room temperature, my cheese went from warm to the fridge. I am guessing this is why it is not sliceable by any means. It tastes delicious, I might add, but I am only able to spread it on crackers or what-have-you. Still, I would definitely make this one again or perhaps a different type of air dried cheese.
My main issue with this book is the use of carrageenan. I contacted the author with my concerns and she assured me that the studies that talk about the health hazards of carrageenan (a known carcinogen which can cause inflammation and other digestive disorders like colitis) were based on the non-food grade form of carrageenan. I am having a hard time believing this as I do my research. First of all, the author states that carrageenan is Irish Moss but I beg to differ. Yes, Irish Moss is a red algae (Chondrus crispus) that contains a polysaccharides called carrageenan. But the Kappa Carrageenan which is recommended comes from a different variety of algae. I would love to be corrected on this as I am not a scientist by any means, but it just seems that there is a big difference between using Irish Moss (which can be found in a health food store) and powdered carrageenan which is a by product (highly processed) of red algae. Just last week Yahoo had an article stating that carrageenan is one of the top 10 “Scariest Food Additives”. Surely they weren’t referring to the non-food grade form of it as they mentioned its use in various snack foods. From my experience, I have seen it mostly in almond milks and the like.
I am not trying to insult the author here or show any disrespect. I am honestly concerned and confused about the whole matter and hoping someone knows more than I do. I still love this book and am going to continue experimenting with the recipes. Hopefully I will have success next time in making my cheese slice-able. Let me also say that carrageenan is NOT used in every recipe so others who may want to avoid it will have plenty of recipes to choose from.
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